IBM Offers Computer Recycling 197
"Many readers are probably unaware that used electronics, including TVs and monitors, are already categorized as a hazardous waste by the US EPA. Unsafe disposal by any business can lead to some staggering costs. The EPA does not inspect your trash. But if they find your monitor at an unsafe waste site, you are 100% responsible for cleaning up that entire site. They go after everyone who contributed to the site and just keep going until everyone is bankrupt or the site is cleaned. There is no proportional allocation. One PC is enough to be charged the entire site cleanup cost.
Consumers not exempt, but there is no point in prosecuting them. They don't have enough money and the political cost to the EPA is too high.
If you do not already have a suitable electronics disposal plan in place, this may be of interest. Most Massachusetts towns have a recycling plan in place because Massachusetts already prohibits consumer disposal of electronics in the regular trash. There are also a variety of donation programs for usable electronics, although many charities have become rather restrictive. They have been burned by people donating broken useless equipment and forcing the charity to pay the recycling disposal fees."
Dime for a Quarter... (Score:2)
trash (Score:1)
Re:Recycle Computer Parts? (Score:1)
I also think recycling should be done for free, and probably is in most decent-sized cities by the scrap dealers (who sometimes actually pay for stuff).
What about the Tron people living in the computer? (Score:1)
As shows like Tron [talsorian.com] and Reboot have shown us, the little programs living in our computers have feelings too.
This is an outrage.
Re:Recycle Computer Parts? (Score:1)
Re:muahahah! (Score:1)
So not only do we save the environment from choking on computer pollution (???), we also provide hours of drunken entertainment for college kids. (not that it's some sort of otherwise unachieveable feat)....
Re:Apply the concept of cans on it. (Score:1)
but with this, you're not getting money back. you're paying extra! would you still recycle cans if you had to PAY 3 cents a can to get them recycled?
Re:Odd (Score:1)
-Fyre
Re:Recycling (Score:2)
Man, I wish I had that URL. *sigh*. I hate making it look like I'm pulling this stuff out of my ear. I assure you I'm not. If someone does have a relevant link to back this up, please post it. I would be interested in keeping it handy.
In short, don't assume that anyone wants you really old junk. It's often more of a problem than a gift.
Re...cy...cling...? (Score:1)
Re:Simple (Score:1)
Businesses.
Re:Good program, but ... (Score:5)
I'm a volunteer at FreeGeek. We actually exchange volunteer hours for the refurbished computers, as opposed to giving them away outright.
The project is new. Our "grand opening" isn't even until this Saturday. (Originally timed for *after the election*, so we could get political officials interested enought to come, ironically.)
We're pulling in a variety of systems, from 8086's on up to dual Pentium Pros. The entire internal network for the organization has been pulled from the trash heap (with a few donations and maybe a couple hundred dollars spent on a DSL router and a few necessary cables.)
We're getting interest from a number of local high tech companies, and we've gotten 501(c)(3) status (that is, the IRS allows donations to us to be tax deductable).
If we can make a go of this, it may be reproduceable in other communities.
Re:Good program, but ... (Score:1)
--
Re:Whatever (Score:1)
I have a perfectly working 486/33 with all the bits except a case, I've been told a student is using it as his houses linux print-server or something. I charged him $0 for it, he charged me $0 to take it off my hands, we're both happy.
Phil
It's even worse than you think (Score:3)
liar, liar, pants on fire! (Score:1)
Seth
Re:Here's a link (Score:2)
Didn't you notice that you were linking to the web site of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a prominent science- and law-based environmental group? You linked to Appendix A of a comprehensive and informative report REFUTING the content of that New York Times Magazine article you were so proud of.
In most cases, for most people, recycling is a Good Thing. It's not good for raw materials extraction company execs.
Read the whole damn thing here: http://www.nrdc.org/cities/recycling/recyc/recyin
Re:Odd (Score:1)
I have a complete, working MAC+ that needs a good home. I hate to throw it out. It's probably a collector's item to somebody.
I live in the Bay Area. Any suggestions?
Good program, but ... (Score:5)
If said technology is still usable, they will give it, along with training, to a needy individual, in the hopes that this person will be able to use this training to start a career, and get a better life for him/herself.
If the technology you donate has outlived its usefulness, FreeGeek will pick it apart and recycle the basic components or elements. All of this is free of charge, but if you are giving them recyclables, they will ask for a small cash donation (not required).
But of course, Oregon is a pretty green state. Gore barely defeated Ralph Nader for the presidency here, 46% to 6%.
I'm assuming there are other programs like this around the country, but I don't know. What's your city doing?
I dont care how old a PC is... (Score:2)
And if you want to do something productive, you can run word processors on them as well. And fill it with porn.
I've always found it easy... (Score:2)
I don't have to pay anything - and someone benefits.
Re:Really Neat! (Score:1)
Re:Uncle Vinny's Discount Computer Disposal (Score:1)
ARRRGH! (Score:2)
I would love it if the company I worked for, instead of paying another company to take care of it, or dumping the machine in the trash, would instead give me the machine to replace my old machine, or at least have parts to replace my old machine.
Sure - it won't be top of the line - but maybe it might be a 300 Mhz AMD or something to replace my aging Pentium 100. I am sure there are many employees who would love this (esp. if they needed a new laptop or something).
Worse case, give 'em to the local geeks to play with! Myself, at every company I worked for, I made it known to the IT dept that if there was any hardware being thrown out, to let me know about it - I would take it off their hands. I have gotten a lot of good hardware this way.
I support the EFF [eff.org] - do you?
Re:Recycling wastes even more (Score:3)
Don't just dogmatize your beliefs, investigate them!
We pay them? (Score:1)
Why the hell didn't I think of it?
TheAngryArmadillo
--
"Government is good at only one thing: It breaks your legs, hands
you a pair of crutches, and says, 'See, without us you wouldn't
be able to walk.'" -- Harry Browne
Re:So for $30 I can get rid of my VAX-6000? (Score:1)
The main unit is about the size of a wide refrigerator, and the storage array (an SA-850) is the size of a regular 19" rack.
I like old hardware, but I really don't have the time to devote to it right now (or the 3-phase power) so I've been thinking about selling off all the boards and junking or giving away most of the rest. The guts are worth at least a few hundred bucks on the surplus market, so I'd rather not just give it all away, but on the other hand it's taking up a lot of room and it's not doing me any good. Maybe I'll post a message on that list and see if anyone wants to buy or trade for it.
Here's a link (Score:1)
Here is a reprint of the original New York Times Magazine article "Recycling is Garbage" [nrdc.org].
Yes, recycling is good for some materials, but the idea that extensive recycling (which requires a whole new waste managment infrastructure!) will save the world is preposterous.
Right... Lets dump it all on YOUR lawn then... (Score:2)
You don't want hazardous crap? Then you should stop buying it.
How likely is that then?
Re:Odd (Score:1)
Use of recycled materials in new computer parts? (Score:1)
Re:-exactly-. (Score:1)
Re:trash afterthought (Score:2)
We're talking 15-20 dead monitors, and 4 or 5 BIG out of warranty HP LaserJets, out of sight, out of mind. They either recycle and resell or dispose of it according to regulations. The provider normally charged $50/trip, but waived this in our case because we gave them a big box of cables and other useful stuff. Beats the hell out of $29.99 a CPU, and we were just happy to see it go.
Re:huge problems with your justification (Score:1)
Yeah, BUT.. if a turtle eats a piece of paper, what do you think will happen to it?(nothing, unless it's sandpaper, or fly-catching paper). If that same turtle then goes and eats plastic, or styrofoam, it'll surely die. Sea turtles tend to eat plastic bags, because they think it's jellyfish. Then they choke to death. Not a nice way to go.
Re:I dont care how old a PC is... (Score:2)
Doom 1 and 2 played fine on my 386DX/33 with 4 megs of RAM (I just had to use a bootdisk to play them).
Re:Here's a link (Score:1)
recycling is big business (Score:1)
As someone else mentioned earlier, computer recycling is big business.
What I haven't seen mentioned is that other things recycled are big business too. The example that springs to my mind is an incinerator in my area. Municipalities pay to have their garbage incinerated (its done extremely cleanly - next to zero emissions - less then a car, you can't even tell its there when your right next to it) and the heat energy from burning is converted into electricity, and sold, and also partially sold as steam to run a factory near by. They make millions every year, some of which (not too much) goes to the French company that manages it, and the rest is enough to fund the recycling program in the area. Innovative!
Hey /. editors... (Score:1)
Hey do I put my comments here, or do I wait for one of you to repost [slashdot.org] this story in an hour or two?
Re:Not only that... (Score:1)
Recycling wastes even more (Score:1)
Sorting, transporting and handling several kinds of wastes instead of just one results in higher fuel and manufacturing consumption and thereby pollution.
Re:Good program, but ... (Score:1)
TTFN!
Sean
The true motive behind IBM's generosity divined (Score:2)
There are going to build the world's largest Beowolf cluster. Imagine a 286 topping the SPEChpc results!
Re:Recycling wastes even more (Score:5)
In fact, IBM will likely make a profit on this deal. You PAY them $29.99 for recycling AND they get to sell or reuse the parts? Hey, I'll give you THAT deal! First of all, most solid state parts don't go bad very easily, so there is plenty for them to recover. Secondly, reselling used computers in third world countries can be fairly lucrative.
The company my friend helped run did both of these things, plus metal recovery (which was actually their first business - recovery of gold from electronics assemblies to make jewelry). As with junked cars, the parts value can exceed the value of the assembled system once a certain age is past. However, if the system still works, it may be cheaper to just sell it used rather than expend the energy and time to disassemble it. Thus, this company, and presumably IBM, would dismantle the broken systems for parts or to recover precious metals, and sell the working ones overseas.
My friend's company did this in, if I recall correctly, Indonesia and the Phillipines. Regarding environmental issues. For second-hand resale, the energy and pollution in transport did NOT outweigh the manufacture and transport of new systems (the transport expenditure is basically the same, but you're manufacturing new stuff as well, so how could new be cheaper costwise or environmentally?) For scrapping, the way that the components parts business is set-up, there is already a lot of transport going on, so this was also actually cheaper on both counts. As for metal recovery: not digging new mines, or, worse for an over-mined commodity like gold, lots of test mines and horrible things like sifter mines, gave quite a financial and environmental benefit.
Recycling of many items, especially complex machines, is not only environmentally sound, but can be quite lucrative. IBM is really quite brilliant for doing this, especially since, being IBM, they can do it with minimal additional transport costs?
Why? Most recycling moves through recycling centers. If IBM puts these at their distribution centers, to move the recycled equipment, you're mostly moving it in trucks which otherwise would be returning empty from distribution centers. In terms of home users shipping back via UPS, the financial cost is a little greater, but not really the environmental: again, you're primarily using empty space. Most UPS (and FedEx, and whatever) trucks return mostly empty to their depots. Someone else I knew well wrote the truck routing software for a major "less than truckload" shipper: their business is to resell the empty space on trucks. By making use of "waste" services to move waste goods, you're so far doing quite well financially and environmentally.
The disassembly process is also almost never more expensive or environmentally damaging than manufacturing, and certainly resale of used systems is pretty obviously without any added environmental cost.
If you know anything about the businesses of recycling and shipping, you realize that IBM has made a really smart move: if they know how to manage all this stuff properly (or if they partnered with folks who do), they'll make a profit AND get the PR bonus of being an "environmentally friendly" company.
Kudos to IBM...
Re:Reuse is pretty unlikely. (Score:2)
Some third world countries, like Brazil, where I am at this very moment in my company's Brazilian engineering office, where we have many excellent engineers, actually DO have legions of trained repair techs, and programmers, etc. India is another third world country that shares this trait, as is Russia. Of course, they also have lots of poor people, but a depressed economy is not isomorphic with everyone being technologically backwards and uneducated...
Unless you've actually left the US, and actually been involved with the computer recycling business, you are just making things up...
Regarding the other guy's note about UPS and FedEx trucks... I will assume he is right, though I know that the UPS truck that delivers in the industrial neighborhood in Brooklyn that I live in often returns empty, I will assume this route is an exception in the UPS system. Other shipping companies DO seem, however, to have lots of extra space - as some companies make a living pooling it and reselling it.
Computer recycling (Score:5)
Here are a few facts I dug up:
I've collected some information on computer recycling [crosswinds.net] (the link to documentation of lead's effect on children's brains is bad; here [cdc.gov] is a better one).
Re:Why not Freeboxen? (Score:5)
One of the great delusions of the consumer era is that donating is better than throwing out. It's true, to some extent, but you're making the assumption that people want your old crap. At the one extreme, you have mattress retailers who make you feel good by offering to donate your old mattress to charity. The result in many cases is that you have charities getting flooded with smelly, stained mattresses that they don't know what to do with and have to pay to have hauled away. A 286 may be of value, yes, but really what are most people going to do with it? You'd have to really dig to find software, and then you'd be out in the cold without manuals or support or anyone to turn to. Is it worth getting yourself reliant on software that's ten or more years old? Unfortunately, using old software and hardware is not so easy.
I Second That, But . . . (Score:2)
On the other hand, though, I'd like to see IBM's criteria for deciding what's junk. Maybe what IBM considers useless, and therefore, ready to be scrapped, could in fact still be utilized by the poor.
There are millions of impoverished individuals in this nation who would like to be able to have computer equipment, even old stuff, but the current economic system restricts that. That is why we need to continue to give technology to the poor and needy. I hope the average slashdot denizen will keep this in mind before junking that old computer.
I am,
Re:Odd (Score:2)
The concept makes sense, I just would never justify the cost of shipping off my old crap as opposed to dropping it in the dumpster behind Computer Renassaince (as I have many a time) or giving it to the young kernel hackers in my LUG.
"You'll die up there son, just like I did!" - Abe Simpson
Re:Why not Freeboxen? (Score:2)
Re:Dime for a Quarter... (Score:2)
Well, for starters, if IBM is offering ~$30.00 per PC, and you want to entice people to go through you, instead of IBM, you'd be well off to offer MORE money for their junk, not less.
Of course, you also have to have the cash on-hand to pay people with, and you have to have an infrastructure in place to support the whole operation. Personally, I don't want to trade $30,000+ of my money for 1000 outdated PC's. That still doesn't change the fact that this is more of a money-making operation for IBM than it is a good-will operation.
Any recyclers in Los Angeles area? (Score:2)
Re:Dime for a Quarter... (Score:2)
I mean they're worth something to IBM in the sense that they can pay $30 for the unit, make it an assest of the company, take a tax break for the $30/unit they pay out, then get money from the recycler for the gold, steel, etc that is "mined" from the PC.
Good idea, But.... (Score:4)
Good idea if your parts are broken. However, if they're not, consider donating or selling them to someone who wants them. There are TONS of computer collectors out there that would LOVE to take computers off your hands for the cost of shipping, provided they work. The older, the better. There's several Computer Shelters [1] [computershelter.org] [2] [jmug.org] and other "low end" computer sites [3] [lowendmac.net] that have hobbyists just searching for parts and machines. There are listservs, Vintage Computer Organizations [vintage.org] and, of course, the effervescent Obsolete Computer Museum [obsoleteco...museum.com] site.
If nothing else, please forward messages of machines available for pickup or shipping to: computershelter@computershelter.org [mailto] and I'll be happy to pass them on to hobbyists who would love to take them off your hands. Some of use the computers for our collections and to learn about older technologies, some of us clean them up and give them to children and impovershed families in our area to give them a piece of technology.
If it's broken, dispose of properly. But if it isn't, please donate and keep them in use!
What a waste (Score:2)
Ok, enough is enough . I've just wasted some minutes on the distortions and half-truths of the article, here is one example:
Spoiled, stale or unused food (or any organic waste) is not garbage, it's potential fertilizer. To even talk of putting it in a landfill is madness. Whilst *some* packaging can be recycled - with some energy cost. Organic matter recycles itself! Just stack it up and wait a few weeks and you have compost.
Now can we get back to talking about computer parts?
Re:Not only that... (Score:2)
I've got enuf old junk laying around that I'm considering shipping them a bunch. I hope that they'll not notice if the machine has four old MOBOs stacked up inside it... :-)
John
Re:This is great! (Score:2)
I even made an MP3 juke box out of some old parts and took it back to work for my listening pleasure! The specs are at www.betips.net/emp3box. I'm listed as the first news article for November. All of those delicious parts I used (except for the Compaq handheld, which was mine) were about to be thrown out by the cleaning crew.
Re:GOLD! (Score:2)
Corporate "green" or "greed"? (Score:3)
And don't forget Envirocycle's [enviroinc.com] role in this operation. Besides being on their way to a solid monopoly in the computers-recycling industry, they pose a serious unrecognized risk of corporate espionage. As this Science News article [sciencenews.org] pointed out as far back as 1995, in the course of recycling proprietary circuit boards and chips, Envirocycle is being given privileged access to industry leaders' intellectual property. Usually, Envirocycle is instructed to destroy those chips, but just think how little it would cost for a competitor to buy (or even just steal) those chips out from under their own competitors' noses.
Recycling is ultimately a good thing, but there need to be strong industry-ethics standards in place to assure that in saving the environment, we don't give up important rights and privileges. I'm wary that this industry (like so many others) cannot be expected to regulate its own behavior, but the solution is left as an exercise to the reader.
Yes Yes Yes (Score:2)
Re:Simple (Score:2)
Re:Why not Freeboxen? (Score:2)
Because we're sick and tired of hearing people say "boxen".
Re:Computer recycling (Score:2)
So remember folks, Do not dispose of old computer equipment by feeding it to children!
----
Dave
MicrosoftME®? No, Microsoft YOU, buddy! - my boss
This seems most useful for borken old hardware... (Score:3)
So now I have 70 lbs of useless lead, glass, and plastic sitting there. What should I do with it?
1) Keep it on the floor in my apartment forever
2) Break out the soldering iron and sci.electronics.repair FAQ's, and hope I don't end up with glass shards sticking out of me
3) For $30, IBM will take care of everything.
Maybe I'm crazy, but option number 3 looks pretty appealing...
Not only that... (Score:3)
Re:This is great! (Score:2)
make that URL www.betips.net/mp3box
Don't forget Freeboxen.com!!! (Score:2)
Re:Don't forget Freeboxen.com!!! (Score:2)
Why do you want to keep the poor down? (Score:2)
I have a severe problem with people pawning off their old computers on the poor and needy and feeling that they have done something good.
You aren't, you're keeping the poor down.
Now, if you're computer is too old for you, is it benefiting the poor and needy to have it? Only if you want to keep them poor and needy.
A good computer can be a big help in getting someone out of the ghetto, it can help them leapfrog themselves into a good, IT position. But will giving a ghetto kid a 386 with Windows 3.11 on it really help them? Is there a burning need for Windows 3.11 users?
We need a government program to get Windows 2000 compatible computers into the ghettos, and help the poor and needy leapfrog their dire straits into good IT jobs. Giving them old computers won't do, and is the act of a closet racist. What next, giving the poor your old moldy food, your old dangerous lead paint, your old, unsafe car?
Apply the concept of cans on it. (Score:2)
Re:Recycle Computer Parts? (Score:2)
(Mommy's watching, dear. Ok, sport. Explain this: in your desk drawer I found a 20 MB MFM drive. You were saving it for what, again? And this Hercules monitor card from God knows when? How about that 386 motherboard [doggone it, it has 16MB of RAM on it! What else am I going to do with 16 30-pin 1MB SIMMS?] How about the dead TI 386 notebook? You resuscitated it twice: going for three, are we? Or the Tandy 1400 FD laptop? 'All it needs is a battery.' To do WHAT? Then there's the AT case behind the door. [They don't make 'em like that anymore: you could park a car on it and it wouldn't hurt it.] So park a car on it, laughing boy! I'm tired of tripping over it whenever I try to wrestle a load of laundry through the door. How about the carcass of that old Packard Bell 486? You didn't even bother trying to breathe new life into that one. [PB sucked. I keep its putrid remains around to remind me of how bad things could get.] Face it: the kid gets her packrat tendencies from you. I should have known to expect no better from someone who plugged a 5.25" floppy drive into his new PC. Remind me: just why did I marry you again? [That was an ID10T error, sweetie. But I love you anyway, even if you do use Windows.]
:)
Re:liar, liar, pants on fire! (Score:3)
Re:Dime for a Quarter... (Score:2)
Re:Hey /. editors... (Score:2)
Question #4: I run a popular geek web forum. How can I increase my page impressions? My bosses have been pressuring me for more ad revenue. - Mr. Taco
Answer: The best way to get people to post a lot is to appeal to their emotions. Since this is the domain of geeks you should try to pit two types of geekware that accomplish pretty much the same thing against one another. Like KDE vs. Gnome. That way, people will get really pissed off and feel like they have to voice their opinion. A little FUD never hurt things either. Try to get a topic like 'Your Rights Online' to convince people that their little hobby might be in danger. Be sure to sensationalize whenever possible. If you are having a particularly slow day you can always post the same story twice, just be sure to change the words around a little so you can defend yourself in the event someone notices. Maybe try posting a lot of vaporware article. People love to debate on whether or not some figment of some guy's imagination will ever make it to the market. Too bad you are running a geek site, if you could find a way to work politics in there you'd be sitting on a gold mine.
Re:Not only that... (Score:2)
Recycling batteries in Albuquerque, Europe, Brasil (Score:2)
I believe that in the USA, that sort of legislation would be seen as restrictive and therefore may be difficult to approve.
In Brasil, although battery recycling is mostly ignored in most regions (with exceptions mostly in the southern region), I have seen several recycling dumpsters with a specific bin for batteries. I am not sure what they actually do with them after collection. As for recycling other material, that process runs the gamut of modern recycling sites to poor who live off meager earnings from picking through trash landfills. Rather sad.
I have tried to find places to recycle used batteries in Albuquerque, NM. Unfortunately, the recycling bins found at the Wild Oats grocery stores are only for paper and glass. Radio Shack was of no help.
I, for one, would be interested in a list of places one could normally take the batteries to be recycled. Anyone?
Re:Recycle Computer Parts? (Score:2)
I guess I've always managed to hand down my old equipment (thus making it somebody elses problem) and I'm too lazy to deal with tax receipts or hassles from donating to charitable organizations.
The semi-official word from IBM (You pay them) (Score:2)
Hi. The consumer calls IBM or goes to IBM's web site and purchases the
product take back for $29.99. The consumers pays. The consumer receives a
kit with special label for UPS. The consumer packages the PC and takes it
to UPS. UPS ships it to Envirocycle in Hallstead, Penna., for recycling or
donation. Hope that helps. Best.
So, I clipped the address lines off the bottom (because I didn't ask for permission to post, but it seems reasonable to quote them). This area of ettiquite is still up for grabs, IMHO.
This seems like a reasonable sum to include shipping, and to find a good home (I hope) for all of the hardware that works, but I don't want to have to support if it breaks because I gave it to a person.
Mike Warot, Hoosier
Re:Don't forget Freeboxen.com!!! (Score:2)
Re:Odd (Score:2)
BTW, most cities already do charge a disposal fee for computers, TVs, etc since they qualify as hazardous waste. It might not be 30 dollars, but it is not something you can do for free.
Re:Dime for a Quarter... (Score:2)
Didnt Packard Bell used to do this (Score:2)
Another good program. (Score:2)
Recycling (Score:2)
TheGeek
So for $30 I can get rid of my VAX-6000? (Score:4)
Recycle Computer Parts? (Score:5)
Odd (Score:3)
Also, what advantages does recycling a computer have over just giving it to a needy person (or something like Goodwill)? I actually own a Color Classic (its a collector's item) that is hooked up to my LAN (OS X PB running natd routing to ppp) and functions wonderfully for my kid to do email and web browsing. Seems like a waste to just dismantle a computer that still works.
This is great! (Score:2)
This isn't just great because of the enviornmental impact, but also the way it will cut down on all the damn clutter...
--
Re:Tycoons (Score:2)
Why not Freeboxen? (Score:3)
GOLD! (Score:2)
I'd imagine that with all the older electronics out there a fair amount of gold could be reclaimed from the parts.
anything is better than just dumping the stuff in the ground to be forgotten about.
They are not reposting, silly,... (Score:2)
(Yeah, pretty lame. But I couldn't resist..
Re: Repair-ers in 3rd wld. (Score:2)
You're absolutely correct there! So many American (and other) "repair" personnel have been told their time is worth more than the cost of the new component, they are taught to replace (usually) rather than repair almost everything. In other countries, those with repair skills or expertise (often self-taught, or taught by peers) actually do REPAIR parts. Their skills and knowledge are seen as very valuable, even if their wages (if any) don't reflect that value. (Then again, just having a source of regular income is valued by workers in many of the countries where used equipment ends up.)
I knew many persons in a global organization who used to take their laptops (wrapped in a towel) with them every time they went to any African country, and routinely left them there. (This was a nonprofit, private group.) Each member would simply buy a new laptop on arriving back home. Those laptops were valued extremely highly by the communities which received them, despite all the bother of getting them charged where electricity is intermittent, and keeping them repaired when few experts are around. Some schools in the poorest nations have only 2-3 ancient (PC jr., even!) machines for hundreds of eager students, donated by volunteers.
In fact, if you're ever about to travel to such a country, please search the Web for pleas for those about to travel to act like a courier to take old used computers (already donated) with them: Just shipping them, without anyone on hand to shepherd them through customs, means they won't arrive at their destination!
Re:Astonishingly cruel! (Score:2)
Get thee to a online merchant NOW! Memory is dirt cheap!! Spend three hours of your pay to get that puppy from 64 to 192! End the pain! The suffering! Think of those achingly overused bits in your swap!
Re:Recycle Computer Parts? (Score:2)
Re:Why do you want to keep the poor down? (Score:2)
I take issue with this.
1. I have personally seen a child (single mother, no health care, just off welfare) light up who I gave an old 6116CD PowerMac (601-60MhzPPC/72MB ram). I have also personally seen that same very child a year later install both LinuxPPC and MacOS 7.6 as a dual boot machine. He is now 11 years old and likes to hose his Linux Install by recompiling everything he can and tinkering with every config file he can find. Evenally, he will make a LOT of money doing that to make a computer work.
2. The government should not dictate what Operating System should people use. It's already hard enough to find a usable competitor to Windows, we don't need it any harder.
3. Even if the govt did have a vested interest in giving computers of a default OS to the poor, Win2000 is still nothing more than a niche OS compared to Win9X/ME, MacOS and in some markets Un*x based OS.
Re:Not only that... (Score:2)
huge problems with your justification (Score:3)
"We're a wicked throwaway society." Plastic packaging and fast-food containers may seem wasteful, but they actually save resources and reduce trash. The typical household in Mexico City buys fewer packaged goods than an American household, but it produces one-third more garbage, chiefly because Mexicans buy fresh foods in bulk and throw away large portions that are unused, spoiled or stale. Those apples in Dittersdorf's slide, protected by plastic wrap and foam, are less likely to spoil. The lightweight plastic packaging requires much less energy to manufacture and transport than traditional alternatives like cardboard or paper. Food companies have switched to plastic packaging because they make money by using resources efficiently. A typical McDonald's discards less than two ounces of garbage for each customer served -- less than what's generated by a typical meal at home.
Plastic packaging is routinely criticized because it doesn't decay in landfills, but neither does most other packaging, as William Rathje, an archaeologist at the University of Arizona, has discovered from his excavations of landfills. Rathje found that paper, cardboard and other organic materials -- while technically biodegradable -- tend to remain intact in the airless confines of a landfill. These mummified materials actually use much more landfill space than plastic packaging, which has steadily been getting smaller as manufacturers develop stronger, thinner materials. Juice cartons take up half the landfill space occupied by the glass bottles they replaced; 12 plastic grocery bags fit in the space occupied by one paper bag.
so, uh, yeah - some Mexican families produce a greater initial bulk of garbage, but it's made up of mostly fresh, unprocessed organic food products. which biodegrade extremely quickly, unlike other "organic" products like paper (or worse packaging materials), which has been processed and condensed so that you're basically waiting for a hyperdense portion of a tree to biodegrade. it also lacks othe natural factors (various critters) that will help the process. that will, of course, take longer than a mostly-eaten apple.comparing easily compostable waste mass to plastic and other petroleum waste that will take (at least) many hundreds of years to biodegrade is an absolute farce - it's comparing apples and plastic wrap, and they're just not the same thing.
similar quality journalism pervades the rest of that article. the plastic waste might be lighter day by day, but it doesn't go away, either. when was the last time anybody saw plastic detritus?
i'd also like to point out that a large part of McDonald's waste is carried out of the store by customers, and thus is probably not accounted for with those numbers.
Batteries need recycling too... (Score:3)
Uncle Vinny's Discount Computer Disposal (Score:3)
Do you still have a Tube TV?
Is there a "windows" key on your keyboard?!
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This is an IBM plot to ruin Linux (Score:2)